In addition to Dylan, who plays guitar and harmonica and sings, most of the song arrangements consist of two additional guitars, a bass and an accordion. It has an interesting track list, Now do I hate it 'No' he's made worse studio albums but I certainly don't love or dig it as he's made studio albums on completely different levels.

The album’s setlist includes 13 original songs handpicked by Dylan for his Shadow Kingdom performance plus the closing instrumental, “ Sierra’s Theme. Shadow Kingdom the album, then, turns out to be an extremely useful addition to the Dylan catalogue, and very much of a piece with his current manoeuvres. And what the subtitle described as ‘The Early Songs Of Bob Dylan’, reconfigured without drums to complement the liminal atmosphere of director Alma Har’el’s visuals.Think of it as a companion to Rough And Rowdy Ways, and that album’s ongoing tour: as if Dylan were reinventing those ‘Early Songs’ in the same silvery light, and getting them out of the way before he hits the road again to concentrate on his Latest Songs. Musicians were listed at the end of the livestream – among them Shahzad Ismaily on accordion, and Big Thief’s Buck Meek, though none of Dylan’s road band – but aren’t mentioned in the album credits.

Shadow Kingdom consists of new recordings of 13 songs from the first half of Dylan's career plus a new instrumental song titled "Sierra's Theme". Variety's Chris Willman wrote that those who purchased advanced tickets to the Veeps livestream "did not really know much about what they were signing up for" but that "[w]hat they got, most would agree, was better — if shorter — than they imagined". Sodomsky also discussed director Alma Har'el's "knack for visualizing the haunted barroom production that Dylan has favored on his modern studio albums: As he sings in dusky rooms filled with cigarette smoke and lamplight, mannequins and Western characters, the whole thing takes on a surreal, ghostlike quality". You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice.

Its brief 2021 run remains a puzzle, but no longer an illusion: The Bon Bon Club is open for business again, whenever we need it. from 1989's Oh Mercy favourite tracks include Queen Jane Approximately, Most Likely You Go Your Way [ And I'll Go Mine], When I Paint My Masterpiece and Watching The River Flow. I don't quite know what this album is about other than it was some project that Dylan worked on last year, and I don't know what the musical interlude between each song is about. Empire also compared the Bon Bon club's atmosphere to "the vibe of the sleeve art of last year’s Rough and Rowdy Ways".

Dylan has long treated his songs as standards, so compositionally robust as to be infinitely malleable, but the gravitas here is striking; as if the removal of the beats has removed the song from linear time.Shadow Kingdom nonetheless earned rave reviews from critics, many of whom praised Dylan's creative re-arrangements of his early songs as well as Har'el's imaginative staging of the performances. Shadow Kingdom presents Dylan performing revelatory 21st century versions of songs from his storied back catalog – including fan favorites like “Forever Young” and “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue,” and deep catalog gems like “Queen Jane Approximately” and “The Wicked Messenger. The album's setlist includes 13 original songs handpicked by Dylan for his Shadow Kingdom performance plus the closing instrumental, "Sierra's Theme. Bizarrely the band are all wearing masks on the inner gatefold and there is no insert or sleeve credits.